The Showdown: You have a PSP, should you ugprade to the new hardware?

Frank and Ben sound off about the new PSP, and whether it should earn a place …

The Showdown continues. Each week we pick a topic, flip a coin to see which OT writer gets which side to debate, and then we present it to you. Today? Ben and Frank debate whether or not the PSP Slim is worth upgrading to.

Ben: The new PSP Slim, PSP 2000, or whatever you want to call it, is on store shelves now in some areas. I was able to grab mine at the local GameStop. Now keep in mind the new hardware won't be an option next to the existing system; the Slim will be sold for the same price as the old hardware moving forward, this is the PSP from now on. Of course, the market will soon be flooded with affordable used original units as people rush to upgrade. The question is: if you have an existing PSP, is this worth the upgrade?

I think so. While the shell may feel a little cheap at first, over time you get used to it, and the lighter weight and slimmer design are much more comfortable for those epic-length playing sessions. I've also noticed a nice reduction in load times with the new expanded memory, and just how much that affects games is something we'll dig into more with the big review, but for now I think the new hardware is worth the money. Keep your original system around for a friend or loved one, or sell it on eBay to finance your new purchase, but the new PSP is a worthy piece of hardware for your portable collection.

Besides, the new white color and shiny plastic shell is much more resistant to fingerprints. That's worth some love right there if you find yourself constantly buffing out the front of your older system.

Frank: When the PSP Slim was unveiled at E3 this year, and the features were detailed, the majority of onlookers experienced the same feelings we did as we sat in the press conference: confusion followed shortly thereafter by disappointment. As far as hardware updates go, the PSP Slim is about as minor an upgrade as you can get. Yes, its slightly lighter, and yes, its a little perkier, but is that enough of a reason to warrant getting a new one? Absolutely not, especially not with this feature set.

Unless you absolutely must have the TV Out feature—which isn't even usable yet—then there's really no reason to upgrade to this trivial version increase. This isn't even close to the type of hardware revision that the DS got, and frankly I was a little disappointed with Sony. I'll be keeping Old Faithful around.

Ben: You can sell your existing system for what, $100? More? So you don't think quicker load times, more comfortable hardware, TV-out, and a better d-pad are worth the $70 to $100 an upgrade would likely cost? You're crazy. The PSP is a system that rewards longer playing session than the DS, and the overall design of the original system wasn't nearly as bulky and unattractive as the first DS. What the PSP needed was some tweaking, not an overhaul, and that's what Sony did. It's pretty cool to be able to dump a video onto your memory stick, and then use TV out to watch the video anywhere. You can also do same thing to be able to play all your games on the big screen. It effectively turns the PSP into both a console and a portable, and I think that's great.

I will have to say that comes with a large caveat: without the cables, I haven't been able to test this feature yet. But I did see the PSP slim at action at E3 doing the TV out trick, and it looked great there, so I'd be very surprised if the retail unit has a sudden drop in quality.

Frank: If you're already willing to go through the hassle of trying to unloading your older unit for the new one, then obviously there's no reason to try and convince you. All I'm saying is that the upgrade really doesn't warrant that much effort for the typical consumer. Is it really worth all that just to play PSP games on your TV? Doesn't that undermine the PSP's brilliant screen, one of the biggest selling points for the system? There's a reason why PS1 games look better on the PSP than they did on the original system: they're at a lower resolution! Without the second stick, a built-in hard drive, or some other significant upgrade, this seems like a waste to me.

My original PSP is in perfect working order, and the Logitech PlayGear case I have for it does the job fine. More importantly, the same fundamental design flaws are still present.

Thanks, but I'll pass on this one.

Let's hear your thoughts. Do you think the PSP Slim is a worthwhile upgrade?

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